Homophobic Hate Speech and Article 17 ECHR: The Evolving Approach of the European Court of Human Rights

 

I have made available a draft of an article that examines how the European Court of Human Rights deals with complaints about restrictions placed on homophobic hate speech. 

Here is the abstract: 

Homophobic, transphobic and other forms of expression against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people remain a problematic feature of European societies. A key issue concerning such expression is the extent to which it should be protected by the right to freedom of expression enshrined in art.10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the ECHR) or, conversely, be excluded from such protection by virtue of art.17 ECHR which prohibits the abuse of rights. Since 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) has considered this issue in a small number of cases concerning complaints about the regulation of homophobic “hate speech” and, in doing so, has progressively evolved its jurisprudence. Most recently, in the case of Lenis v Greece, the Court has significantly further evolved its approach to applying art.17 ECHR to homophobic hate speech, which has important implications for the protection of LGBT people from hate speech across Europe.

The draft article is available here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4801753